When we started Skout almost a decade ago as a “mobile first” company, there were no iPhones or Android devices out there. Not even Facebook had a mobile product. It was a tough proposition since the market was not ready -- and for a long time we struggled to get any traction at all. At that time, it seemed as if we knew almost all of our Skouters by first name. :-)

We all shared the same vision: that meeting and connecting with new people is an inherently good and exciting thing to do. Fast-forward to today and we have a thriving community with millions of people from all over the world. Hundreds of millions of connections have been formed – and we truly believe that these friendships have made the world a better place. The global aspect has always been important to us, and that is what makes Skout unique.

During this journey we got to know the very talented team at MeetMe. We share the same vision and have been friends for years. That friendship has now developed into something deeper, and we are committing to continue the journey of connecting people, not independently, but together as one bigger and stronger company. You can read more about the news here. We are absolutely thrilled about this!

The acquisition is subject to a number of closing conditions, and we and MeetMe are targeting the completion of the acquisition in October 2016.

We want to thank all the people who believed in us during these incredibly rewarding years (in no particular order): our users, employees, investors, friends, family and partners. It would not have been even remotely possible without your support and hard work -- and for that we are forever grateful!

Are you thinking about getting a dog, but aren't sure what breed to get? It's important to do your research to make sure you're getting the dog that best fits your personality and lifestyle. Take our quiz to learn what breed is the best fit for you!

June 24 is Pet Sitters International’s Take Your Dog To Work Day®! Here at SKOUT, we usually focus on making human besties. However, in honor of this occasion, we thought it’d be fun to learn what the SKOUT community thinks about K-9 besties in the workplace.

Highlights from our survey include:

Dogs at work are more popular than you may think!

14% of everyone surveyed say they bring their dog to work, at least some of the time.

People who work in an office are even more likely to bring their dog to work -- with 21% saying they bring their four-legged friend to their workplace.

Dogs can make you happier, more productive and less stressed at work.

74% of people surveyed say that dogs make employees feel happier in the workplace.

Office workers are even more likely (78%) to think so.

63% of people surveyed say that dogs help lower employees’ stress levels at work.

Among office workers, that jumps to 67%.

43% of everyone surveyed say that dogs make employees more productive.

51% of people surveyed say being able to bring your tail-wagger to work makes your company a cool place to work. Workers age 30 and under especially think so (58%).

Best company perk? Pooches are more popular than ping pong tables.

When it comes to perks in the workplace, the ability to bring your dog to work is preferred three times as much as the option of having a ping pong or foosball table.

One possible problem: getting along with your boss’s dog!

9% of people surveyed say the biggest downside of having dogs in the workplace would be having to pretend they like their boss’s dog, even if they don’t.

Dogs rule, cats drool.

78% of people surveyed say they prefer Take Your Dog to Work Day, while 22% prefer Take Your Cat to Work Day.

At SKOUT, we enjoy being able to bring our K-9 best friends to work. But, there are definitely guidelines we need to follow to ensure everyone in the office gets along with our K-9 bestie. Check out our tips for taking your dog to work.

If you don’t have a dog and are thinking about adopting one, consider adopting from Muttville! This San Francisco based non-profit gives senior dogs who are least likely to be adopted from shelters a second chance at love! Muttville dogs make awesome companions, especially for those workaholics who spend the bulk of their time in the office and prefer to have their dog by their side while they work!

You can scroll through the friendly K-9 faces on Muttville’s website to find the right dog for you. In addition, you can give your favorite Skouters Muttville stickers during Take Your Dog to Work Day! For every sticker given on this day, SKOUT will make a donation to Muttville. Take a look at the Muttville stickers!

Share your love for your K-9 friends with your favorite Skouters! On Take Your Dog to Work Day, SKOUT will make a donation to Muttville for every Muttville sticker given on June 24, 2016. You can find Sid, CocoPuff and Emerson in the Happy Take Your Dog to Work Day! section of the Gift Store.

At SKOUT, we bring our dogs to work all the time because our K-9 besties make us happy. In the office, we make sure our dogs practice certain etiquette in order to get along well with everyone. We asked our fellow employees what tips they have for other Skouters who are considering bringing their dog to work for the first time.

Get it approved. Just because others bring their dogs in, does not mean it is a free-for-all. Make sure you have all the necessary approvals from management, and understand any ground rules, before you bring your pooch. (Ryan, QA)

Don’t delegate. Remember that as the dog owner you are 100% responsible, 100% of the time for your pet’s well being, behavior, and biological needs. Don’t ask your team to walk or clean up after your dog! (Kristen, Human Resources)

Bring on the goodies! Just like people enjoy snacks and games in the break room, so do your dogs. Biscuits and toys can help you encourage positive interactions with your dog and your coworkers throughout the day. (Nikki, Marketing and owner of Apollo, Nova, Stars and Verse)

Remember doggie hygiene. The only thing worse than a smelly coworker is a smelly dog! Give Fido a bath and proper grooming before bringing him to work. (Mark, Creative Director and owner of Spanky)

Remember breakfast is the most important meal of the day, for your dog, too! Feed your dog before going to work, so they don’t get “hangry” and nip your co-workers. (Jane, Marketing and owner of Jakey and The Bean-Dog)

There you have it! Follow those tips when you bring your dog to work, and your dog will shine like a Golden Retriever, unless your dog is a Golden Retriever… then it’s already golden. Shine on!

We asked the SKOUT community to show off their K-9 bestie by posting a photo to the Buzz with the hashtag #K9Bestie for a chance to win a SKOUT branded dog leash and 500 Points. There were some entries that made us LOL and a few that gave us all the feels. But, there was one in particular that takes the cake for the most adorable.

Congratulations to SkoutID: rrrenee for the winning post!

We love a little friendly competition and will be posting another hashtag contest in the future, so stay tuned for a chance to win Points and swag!

What are you getting your dad for Father’s Day? Well, it just so happens Father’s Day falls on Martini Day this year. So, we suggest treating him to a homemade Classic Martini to toast to how amazing he is!

Mikey is our cocktail expert, and he’s provided an excellent recipe for the occasion.

You will need:

2 oz. gin

1 oz. dry vermouth

1 dash orange bitters

Garnish: lemon twist and olives

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a cocktail glass and fill with ice. Stir until well chilled and strain into a cocktail glass. Express a lemon peel over the drink. Garnish with cocktail olives.

In addition to celebrating Father’s Day and Martini Day by drinking Martinis, we’re honoring the occasion with Martini Gifts! This Gift is free all day on June 19 and is available in the Beverages category of the Gift Store.

Our resident Mixologist, Mikey, recently informed us it’s Negroni Week. What is a Negroni you may ask and why has there been an entire week set aside to celebrate it? Well, the Negroni is a yummy cocktail that is super easy to make and enjoy with a group of friends. Negroni Week was started as a way to raise money for local charities around the world. Learn more about Negroni Week here.

To celebrate, we’d like to share Mikey’s Negroni-making expertise with you!

Ingredients:

1 oz Campari

1 oz gin

1 oz sweet vermouth

Garnish:

Orange peel

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a double old fashioned glass and fill with ice. Stir until well chilled. Express an orange peel over the drink and drop it in. Check out our Instagram video for the tutorial!

For National BFF Day on June 8, celebrate your IRL (in real life) and online besties! As technology plays an ever-present part in our everyday lives, we were curious to know how many people are meeting their best friends online in addition to real life. We surveyed more than 3,000 Skouters and found more people are meeting friends in general online than ever before -- and this extends to finding a bestie! While 70% of people surveyed say they have an IRL best friend, nearly half (48%) of people say they have a BFF they met online.

Additional highlights from our National BFF Day survey include:

Women are more likely than men to have a BFF they met online.

52% of women surveyed say they have an online BFF, while 46% of men say the same.

People under the age of 30 are only slightly more likely to have an online BFF, but not by much!

Don’t assume that online friendships are a Millennial thing … 51% of people age 30 or under say they have an online bestie, compared with 44% of people ages 31-40 and 49% of people ages 41 or older.

A BFF who really gets you may not live nearby ...

23% of people surveyed say their online BFF lives in a different country, and 28% say their online BFF lives in a different state.

50% say their online BFF lives fairly close, with 25% saying they’re in the same city and 25% saying they live in the same state.

Many people have met their online BFF, IRL.

45% of people surveyed say they have met their online bestie in person, and 93% say they want to meet their online BFF IRL someday.

IRL or online, friendships are about caring.

70% of people surveyed say the best gift from a friend on BFF Day is a heartfelt message or chat session. Only 30% would prefer a gift.

Check out our Skouters who have met their online besties via SKOUT!

Lady Toro and River

“I have a lot of online friends but never had a bestie like her; she rocks!” - River

Skouter Lady Toro (SKOUT ID: ladytoro1) has been making friends on SKOUT for three years. In July 2015, she noticed River (SKOUT ID: river1175) on the Buzz of a mutual friend. “Her sense of humor was spot on, and I knew immediately she was a cool chick,” remembers Lady Toro. River sent Lady Toro a private message, and they clicked right away! “Same sassy and snarky sense of humor,” says Lady Toro.

Lady Toro lives in Amsterdam, and River is thousands of mile away in North Carolina, but they don’t let the time difference get in the way of their friendship. They even plan to meet in person this year!

“She cracks me up so often! We can talk for hours sometimes (and totally forget about the time difference, as it's usually halfway through the night for me). We've been talking about meeting up at some stage this year. I'm not sure yet who goes where, but I'm positive we will meet in person and have a great time together. I have a lot of online friends but never had a bestie like her; she rocks!”

If you’ve downloaded the latest version of SKOUT, you will notice a small battery icon to the right of your profile picture in your Menu. This icon represents your popularity in the SKOUT community!

The color of the bars along with the number of bars coincide with your popularity score, ranging from Low to Very High.

As with any popularity contest, there are several factors that determine your status. In SKOUT, your popularity is determined by the number of times your Profile has been viewed, the number of chat requests you’ve received, as well as the number of Likes people have given you in the Interested? game.

Curious to find out how to boost your popularity? Follow the instructions below to get started. The steps are the same for both Android and iOS.

Step 1: Tap on the battery icon.

Step 2: Tap one of the buttons to increase your popularity.

After tapping on the battery icon in your Menu, you will be taken to a screen showing your popularity during the past seven days. To boost your popularity, tap one of the buttons below the chart. For example, tap “Get Seen First” to move to the next screen.

Step 3: Sign up for Premium.

On this screen, tap the green button to select your Premium subscription.

Once you’ve signed up for a Premium subscription, your popularity will automatically go up because you will be seen first in the Interested? game; increase your search rank in the Meet grid; and have your chat messages go directly to the inbox instead of waiting in the chat request queue for approval from another Skouter.

Along with these awesome perks the Premium subscription gives you access to, you will also be provided with tips on how to boost your profile for optimal exposure to the rest of the SKOUT community.

After you have signed up for Premium, your popularity screen will look like this:

Complete your profile by adding a profile photo and filling out your About Me section. You can also increase your popularity by keeping your Buzz up to date. What did you do this weekend? Post a photo of your adventure!

Now that you’ve grasped how to increase your popularity, we’ll show you how to view your fellow Skouters’ popularity via Insights!

Not only will SKOUT Insights let you see the popularity score of a fellow Skouter, it will allow you to view if that Skouter has read your recent chat message to him or her; check out when he or she was last seen in the app; and let you know how long he or she has been a member of the SKOUT community.

To access SKOUT Insights, follow these steps:

Step 1: Go to another Skouter’s profile and tap “Insights.”

Step 2: Tap “Unlock.”

Step 3: Sign Up for Premium.

From here you will be taken to the Premium subscription screen. If you have not already signed up for Premium, choose your subscription.

Once you have signed up for Premium, you will be able to view the Insights tab.

Happy Skouting! As always, make sure to download the latest version of SKOUT to access new features.

Celebrate Mint Julep Day on Monday, May 28, by mixing this delicious concoction for your friends!

We asked our resident mixologist, Mikey, for his take on the Mint Julep.

Follow this recipe:

MINT JULEP

Ingredients:

2 oz Kentucky Bourbon

.25 oz simple syrup

8 mint leaves

2 drops bitters (optional, but you should definitely try it with bitters)

Directions:

In a julep cup, lightly muddle the mint and simple syrup. Add the Bourbon and fill with crushed ice. Stir until the outside of the julep cup is frosted. Add more crushed ice to fill the cup completely. Add a couple of drops of bitters, if desired. Garnish with a mint sprig.

For a non-alcoholic version of the Mint Julep, substitute the Bourbon for unsweetened iced tea.

NON-ALCOHOLIC MINT JULEP

Ingredients:

2 oz unsweetened iced tea

.25 oz simple syrup

8 mint leaves

Directions:

In a julep cup, lightly muddle the mint and simple syrup. Add the iced tea and fill with crushed ice. Stir until the outside of the julep cup is frosted. Add more crushed ice to fill the cup completely. Garnish with a mint sprig.

In addition to entertaining your friends with Mint Julep cocktails, you can give your favorite Skouters Mint Julep Gifts available for free all day on the 28th in the Beverages category of the Gift Store!